Author Topic: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games  (Read 13424 times)

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Offline Scotty

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X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
How the hell do we not have a thread about this already?  This game is the ****.  Have you ever wanted to have a game where you dogfight with iconic ships from the Star Wars universe?  This is your game.  With three different factions and easily two dozen ships ranging from X-wings to TIE Fighters, to the Millennium Falcon and Slave I, all the way to Correlian Corvettes and Imperial Carriers, there's no shortage of ways to enjoy the game.



This is the original Core Set, the starter box for the whole game.  It comes with an X-wing, two TIE Fighters, a number of pilots (both unique, like Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter, and generic, like Academy Pilots for TIE Fighters), upgrades you can use to improve your ships like Proton Torpedoes, Astromech Droids, and Elite Pilot Talents representing extraordinary talent behind the controls, and a full set of dice, maneuvering templates, all the tokens needed to play the game (and a bunch more besides), and the included ships' maneuvering dials.

Every ship has its own unique stats and maneuvers, durability, agility, and offensive firepower.  X-wings are dripping in firepower, while TIE Fighters are faster and more maneuverable, but lack shields to protect them.

Between Rebel, Imperial, and Scum (a relatively new faction), there are a couple dozen different ships to fly, including damn near everything that ever had even ten seconds of screen time, and a bunch of stuff that only existed in the Expanded Universe.

Rebel Ships:
  • T-65 X-wing
  • T-70 X-wing
  • Y-wing
  • Z-95 Headhunter
  • A-wing
  • B-wing
  • E-wing
  • HWK-290
  • K-wing
  • YT-1300
  • YT-2400
  • Ghost (coming soon)
  • Phantom (coming soon)
  • GR-75 Rebel Transport
  • CR-90 Corellian Corvette

Imperial Ships:
  • TIE Fighter
  • TIE/FO Fighter
  • TIE Advanced
  • TIE Advanced Prototype (coming soon)
  • TIE Bomber
  • TIE Interceptor
  • TIE Defender
  • TIE Phantom
  • TIE Punisher
  • Lambda-class Shuttle
  • Firespray 31
  • VT-49 Decimator
  • Raider Corvette
  • Gozanti Cruiser

Scum and Villainy Ships:
  • Z-95 Headhunter
  • Y-wing
  • M3-A Scyk Interceptor
  • Star Viper
  • Kihraxz Fighter
  • Aggressor
  • YV-666
  • Punishing One (coming soon)
  • Mist Hunter (coming soon)


And a whole ****load of pilots and upgrades for all of those ships.  Pilots are locked to the ships they pilot, but upgrades can be added to ships that totally change they way they're played, making squadron building a very real, very interesting part of the game.

Everything comes pre-painted and to-scale with one another, so it's pretty damn close to being able to drop a few bucks, pull out a flat surface, and start pushing your tiny plastic spaceships around a table.  It's also addictive as hell, but priced well enough that jumping in won't break the bank.  The Core Sets (both of them) are $40 each, small ships like X-wings, Y-wings, and TIE Fighters are typically $15 MSRP, while large ships like the Millennium Falcon and Slave I typically run around $30.  Huge ships are ****ing huge and gorgeous, but typically run $70-$90.  Worth it, if you ask me.  Just look at this thing:



It's also a damn good game in terms of rules.  They're pretty airtight, and FFG will periodically release a FAQ guide that makes definitive rulings on questionable interactions between cards or pilots, or ambiguous card text.  If there's one downside to the game, it's that new ships will typically come with new upgrades, and those new upgrades will only be available in those ships, meaning that to use them in a tournament environment you need to buy the new ships, too.  In a casual environment that's not a huge deal (proxy what you want, yo).

I know the good General Battuta plays, and I obviously do.  Anybody else?

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Dónde están los Feos? :wtf:

What kind of scum and villainy doesn't have the Uglies?  No Die-Wings?  No X-TIEs? :(
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Offline General Battuta

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Uglies are ugly so I don't think they're willing to risk a bunch of money on producing and selling them. It would be kind of cool to have them though

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Does this play something similar to Blue Max or Canvas Eagles?
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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Forget uglies, why does no game ever use the Imperial Gunboats?



Such a huge part of two of most celebrated games in the star wars universe and there seems to be very little proliferation of the design afterwards.

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Does this play something similar to Blue Max or Canvas Eagles?

I don't know but it plays really well! It's intuitive, fast, easy to teach, and really deep - with lots of cool design space and a high skill ceiling. It's a hell of a piece of design.

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games



Blue Max is turn based and uses a grid plus collapsible stands to model position and altitude.  Certain maneuvers can be executed based on the situation and attack/defense phase is determined with dice throws.  Obviously there is a distinct lack of capital ships in the skies above the trenches though.

Anyway are the minis pre painted in this X-Wing game?

“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 
Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
I think they're all pre-painted and also all not so cheap. There's also Star Wars armada for the people like me who prefer ships over fighters:







 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Minis are pre-painted, very high quality, and gorgeous (nicer than any other Star Wars toy of similar scale I've seen). The game is purely 2D and doesn't require any kind of mat or grid beyond for a flat open space. There's a spatial reasoning/skill component in that you are never allowed to premeasure your moves, so you need to eyeball where you'll end up to avoid collisions and stay in formation.

You can also buy into Armada which is the capship version, but unfortunately it's much longer, slower, and more finicky — and I don't think it's much fun yet (not to mention it's expensive compared to X-Wing).

 

Offline Black Wolf

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Love X Wing. Spent way, way to much money on that game, can't wait for the SW:Rebels ships in the new wave. I mostly play Rebels - Z-95s and Y Wings are my goto ships. Of course, I'm not particularly good at it - came dead last at league night last night (out of 10). But in my defence, I was trying a new list! :)

Slowly converting family and friends over to the game as well - it's not difficult to do. :)

What are you guy s running at the moment? My list last night was:
Tarn Mison (T-65 X Wing) with R7 Astromech
Lt Blount (Z-95 Headhunter) with Ion Pulse missiles and Deadeye.
Gold Squadron Pilot (Y Wing) with R3-A2, Twin Laser Turret and the BTL-A4 title.
Jake Farrell (A Wing) with Push the Limit, Wired, Chardaan Refit, A Wing Test Pilot and Autothrusters.

I think its going to be pretty powerful - once I learn to fly it correctly.
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Offline Scotty

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
I am the stuntman prodigy, following in the steps of the Xtreme and the one true prophet, XXX.

Wedge Antilles (29)
Opportunist (4)
R2 Astromech (1)

Wes Jansen (29)
Veteran Instincts (1)

Luke Skywalker (28)
Veteran Instincts (1)
R2-D2 (4)

Total: 97

Living life on the edge with a monster initiative bid and no pilot lower than skill 9.  Wes shoots first to take away tokens.  Luke shoots next to take away more and begin dealing damage.  Then Wedge lets loose, a howling tempest of red dice against no tokens and reduced agility.

It's worked pretty well so far.

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
You can also buy into Armada which is the capship version, but unfortunately it's much longer, slower, and more finicky — and I don't think it's much fun yet (not to mention it's expensive compared to X-Wing).

Armada has more to recommend it mechanically than X-Wing does in my experience, but the significantly higher price point and the fact that the minis are prepainted except the fiddly bits and lastly that you actually get less in the box relatively make it seem like they were trying to sabotage it.
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Offline Lepanto

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Any advice on how to get into the game? What to buy (besides the starter set)? Best sites on which to learn up on the game?

Thanks!
"We have now reached the point where every goon with a grievance, every bitter bigot, merely has to place the prefix, 'I know this is not politically correct, but...' in front of the usual string of insults in order to be not just safe from criticism, but actually a card, a lad, even a hero. Conversely, to talk about poverty and inequality, to draw attention to the reality that discrimination and injustice are still facts of life, is to commit the sin of political correctness. Anti-PC has become the latest cover for creeps. It is a godsend for every curmudgeon and crank, from fascists to the merely smug."
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Offline Scotty

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
After the starter set, buy what you think looks cool!  There are actually two starter sets, one for classic X-wings and TIE Fighters, and one for Episode VII ships.  If you prefer Rebels, I recommend an X-wing and Rebel Aces to give you a few good options to start out with when it comes to building lists.  If you prefer Imperials, a TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor, and Imperial Aces will give you a great selection of TIE pilots and most of the tools to run some pretty sweet ace Interceptor pilots.

But seriously though, get what you think looks cool.  I've got a couple Defenders that I absolutely love the looks of and periodically fly, even though they're pretty sub-class ships in the tournament meta right now (but look like they'll be coming into their own again with a new pack coming out early next year).

 

Offline Aesaar

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
TIE/IN coolest fighter.  I don't care how good it is ingame, it's got the highest cool factor.

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
I hate the TIE/ln and TIE/IN confusion, but assuming you mean the interceptor, it's really good if flown by ace pilots. High-skill Interceptors are one of the landmarks in the metagame.

 

Offline Aesaar

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Definitely mean the interceptor.  That's good to know.  I'm gonna need to start playing this and find people to play it with.

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
If you love Interceptors, you need the core set (I'd recommend the 2nd core set for the damage deck included - they're different!) for the maneuver templates and damage deck, the Interceptor individual ship (which includes Soontir Fel as a pilot, arguably the best pilot in the game in terms of ability), and the Imperial Aces pack.  That'll give you three Interceptors, every pilot for them, and a whole bunch of cool upgrades to use with them.  You'll be missing out on some of the really high-meta cards like Autothrusters (in the Star Viper, also a cool goddamn ship) and Stealth Devices (Slave I, M3-A Scyk Interceptor), but all the basic pieces are there.

fake edit: X-wing supremacy forever (even though one on one an Interceptor will generally murder the **** out of an X-wing due to how movement and actions work).

 

Offline Lepanto

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
Thanks Scotty. I'd be playing Rebels; what are their most notable ships/etc.?
"We have now reached the point where every goon with a grievance, every bitter bigot, merely has to place the prefix, 'I know this is not politically correct, but...' in front of the usual string of insults in order to be not just safe from criticism, but actually a card, a lad, even a hero. Conversely, to talk about poverty and inequality, to draw attention to the reality that discrimination and injustice are still facts of life, is to commit the sin of political correctness. Anti-PC has become the latest cover for creeps. It is a godsend for every curmudgeon and crank, from fascists to the merely smug."
Finian O'Toole, The Irish Times, 5 May 1994

Blue Planet: The Battle Captains: Missions starring the Admirals of BP: WiH
Frontlines 2334+2335: T-V War campaign
GVB Ammit: Vasudan strike bomber
Player-Controlled Capship Modding Tutorial

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games
The full list that Rebels have access to is in the OP.  Most notable?  As above, I'm partial to three X-wings as my squadron builds.  That's definitely not all that works, though.  Some ships that show up in tournaments a lot (which is a good idea to see what's good/notable, if not a good idea to see what you should play [which is whatever you want, **** the meta]):

Han Solo - YT1300.  This guy is arguably one of the best ships in the game, due to his ability and combining him with certain upgrade cards (Gunner, Predator, Engine Upgrade) and the 360 degree turret all YTs have..  A Han loaded down with a bunch of upgrades is known colloquially as a "Fat Han".  I don't actually own one of these because I hate flying big ships.

Dash Rendar - YT2400.  Also ridiculously good, due to the Outrider title that lets him put cannons on a turret and give no ****s about anything in the way.  Cannons are secondary weapons, so they have the handy effect of taking away extra defense bonuses from long range shots.  Stupidly mobile with the right upgrades, colloquially called "Epic Dash".  Also comes with a bunch of cool upgrades.  I don't catually own one of these either, for the same reason.

Corran Horn - E-wing.  Can shoot twice in a turn, in exchange for not shooting the next turn.  The only E-wing pilot worth using.  Pairs very well with either Fat Han or Epic Dash as part of a two-ship squadron list.  For a long time, two ship lists were the dominant part of the entire meta.  Recent releases have changed that pretty significantly, but they were good for a reason, and they're still good even if they're not outright the best anymore.

Keyan Farlander - B-wing.  Can spend stress (removing it) as a focus token while attacking.  Stress normally sucks really hard, so that's a pretty awesome ability.  Held back a little bit by the pilot skill in a world full of aces (PS 7, in an odd middle ground in the game where you're higher than generic pilots (and paying for it) but not high enough to consistently beat aces unless you grab Veteran Instincts, which makes it more difficult to get stress tokens through that upgrade slot).  Pilot ability generally makes up for it, and the B-wing's maneuver dial has a good deal of red to help out with that.  B-wings are also pretty tanky, with five shield points and three hull points.

Blue Squadron Pilot - B-wing.  Generic, PS 2 B-wing.  Cheap, durable, painful, not particularly dodgy, restricted dial.  Four of these guys and a Z-95 make up probably the best, most realiable jousting list in the game, at the cost of limited maneuver options to keep guns on target after the merge.

Jake Farrel - A-wing.  When assigned a focus token, he can perform a boost or barrel roll, making him the single most mobile small ship on the entire Rebel side.  Same PS as Keyan, but A-wings get to take two of them with the upgrades in Rebel Aces (which is where you get Jake in the first place) which makes it a bit easier to keep him competitive with other aces.

Green Squadron Pilot - A-Wing.  Relatively cheap generic fighter that is pretty good at staying out of arcs.  Comes with an Elite Pilot Talent (the lowest pilot skill ship in the game with an EPT at PS 3), and can get another with upgrades out of Rebel Aces.  Along with Jake, arguably needs Autothrusters (found in the Star Viper) to truly come into its own against ships with turrets.

Wedge Antilles - X-wing.  One of exactly five pilots in the game with native PS 9 (along with Han Solo, Darth Vader, Soontir Fel, and Talonbane Cobra).  Expensive, and X-wings have serious difficulty in modern games due to lack of after-maneuver reposition options like barrel roll and boost.  Still an awesome pilot, and will lay down the goddamn hurt on whatever you point him at.  Helped by...

Wes Jansen - X-wing.  Not as high PS as Wedge (PS 8), but with a pilot ability arguably better.  When he shoots at someone, they lose a token, either a focus, evade, or target lock.  You pick.  Really, really, really good at setting up shots for the rest of your group.  Put Veteran Instincts on him to get him to PS 10 and unleash him on a target you want to focus fire against.

Poe Dameron - T-70 X-wing.  Sublime.  T-70s kick serious ass, and Poe's ability is basically Luke's ability, with a few of the little details changed.  High skill (PS 8) and a boost action means he's maneuverable as hell, and adding upgrades like BB-8 (Astromech) and Push the Limit means that he can pull of maneuvers and actions in such an order that he can effectively get 5-speed banks and 7-speed forward maneuvers, which are normally impossible.  Everybody else has to do those reposition options after the maneuver, but Poe has the unique ability to do them both before he actually moves.

Gold Squadron Pilot - Y-wing.  Low cost, PS 2 pilot that is suddenly all the rage because Twin Laser Turrets kick ass, and you can fit four of these guys into a tournament list with them.  Sturdy, not very shooty (without turrets), not very dodgy, not very zippy.  This is why they're cheap.

Bandit Squadron Pilot - Z-95.  If the Y-wing is cheap, the Z-95 is dirt.  A Gold Squad Y-wing costs 18 points, a Bandit Squad Z-95 costs 12, equivalent to a TIE Fighter.  You can fit eight of them in a tournament list, which is expensive (in real dollars) and has some serious trouble with arc dodgers like Soontir (big in the meta) and Vader (also big).  Point and shoot.

Miranda Doni - K-wing.  The highest skill offering for the K-wing (PS 8), her ability is impressive.  Once per round, Miranda may choose to either roll one fewer attack die in order to regenerate a shield (there are exactly four ways to regenerate shields in X-wing.  All four of them are for Rebels only, two of them are Astromechs [and therefore restricted to X-wings, Y-wings, and E-wings only], one of them is a crew upgrade [and therefore limited to the YT-1300, YT-2400, HWK-290, and B-wing (with upgrades)] with a downside.), or spend a shield to roll an additional attack die.  Obviously that's pretty sweet and flexible, and Miranda herself sees a lot of play next to Corran or a Fat Han/Epic Dash in a two ship build.

Jan Ors - HWK-290.  Hawks are support ships, plain and simple.  Jan is high skill (PS 8), but you don't take her for that, you take her for the pilot ability.  If a friendly ship is nearby , you can take a stress token on Jan in order to have that ship roll an additional attack die.  Attack dice are huge in this game.  More of them is almost always great, especially if it doesn't take actions to do.  Downsides: Fragile, slow, really really ****ty on offense.

There are probably a bunch more of them that I missed, but those are the ones I see on the field most often on the Rebel side.